Language: English

Jestina Mukoko is a distinguished human rights defender, journalist, peace advocate, and civil society leader. She founded the Jestina Mukoko Foundation to provide a sanctuary and platform for those affected by trauma to share their stories as the initial step in their journey of healing and restoration. As former National Director of Zimbabwe Peace Project, a non-profit organisation, She has been dedicated to promoting sustainable peace by tracking and reporting human rights abuses and breaches of peace across Zimbabwe.

 A survivor of state-sponsored violence, Mukoko bravely documented her harrowing experience in her book, The Abduction and Trial of Jestina Mukoko: The Fight for Human Rights in Zimbabwe, published in 2016. 

A political scientist by training, Mukoko holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Defending Human Rights, and an Executive Master’s Degree in Managing Peace and Security in Africa. For her outstanding contributions to democracy, human rights, and peace advocacy, the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe honored her as one of the 50 Inspirational Women of 2020-2021. 

Mukoko has been engaged in work to analyse fault lines impacting cohesion in the opposition in Zimbabwe. She has been a member of the IFIT Zimbabwe Resources Group since its inception in 2016.

Sawsan Abou Zainedin is the Chief Executive Officer of Madaniya, a Syrian-led initiative uniting over 240 civil society organisations to reclaim political agency within Syria’s civic space. Trained as an architect and urban planner, Abou Zainedin brings over a decade of experience in the development sector, applying a multidisciplinary lens to the challenges of the Syrian conflict.

Before leading Madaniya, she worked with a wide range of international and Syrian organisations. She has delivered guest lectures at academic institutions such as UCL, McGill, and the University of Bath, and published research with leading think tanks including Chatham House and Carnegie Middle East Center.

Abou Zainedin is a member of GIZ’s Experts Network on Housing, Land, and Property Rights and IFIT’s Syria Resource Group. She has co-founded several community-based initiatives, including Hooz Centre in Syria and Sakan Housing Communities in the UK.

A Chevening scholar, she holds an MSc in Urban Development Planning from UCL, a postgraduate diploma from Erasmus University, and a degree in architectural engineering from the University of Aleppo. Her work bridges civic leadership, urban justice, and post-conflict recovery.

Sulemana Braimah is the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), West Africa’s most influential freedom of expression advocacy and media development non-profit organisation. He is an experienced, visionary and transformational non-profit leader with over 15 years of experience. He is skilled in non-profit management, building talents, policy analysis, strategic planning and innovation, with extensive networks in Africa and globally. 

Braimah is a 2019 Global Eisenhower Fellow in recognition of his exceptional leadership; and the 2023 recipient of the coveted Eisenhower Fellowships Impact Award, in recognition of the extraordinary impact of The Fourth Estate non-profit journalism project, which he founded in 2021.

 At the regional level, Braimah serves as the Secretary General of the ECOWAS Civil Society Platform on Transparency and Accountability in Governance (ECSOPTAG).

Guillermo Tell Aveledo Coll is a Doctor in Political Science from the Central University of Venezuela. He is Full Professor and Dean of Law and Politics at Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas. 

His academic work focuses on Venezuelan politics, Church-State relations, and extremism in contemporary ideological trends. He is a member of IFIT’s Venezuela Expert Group (GEV), and served as a member of the National Primary Commission (2022–2023), the citizen-led body responsible for organizing the opposition’s leadership primaries in Venezuela. 

His recent publications include “Venezuela: Reconfiguración de la hegemonía” and “Whose right, whose left? The peculiar iterations of right-wing politics in Venezuela” (co-authored with Maryhen Jimenez).

Tessa Dooms is the host of Power Breakfast on Powerfm 987 in South Africa, and the Director at the Rivonia Circle, political think-tank. She recently authored a book titled ‘Coloured’ that explores identity politics in South Africa.

Trained as a Sociologist, development practitioner and political analyst, Ms. Dooms is an activist, author and change maker committed to the remaking of the future of South Africa. She started her career in academia and has worked in diverse sectors including government, NGOs and the private sector, where she did work that aligns the objectives of various institutions and programmes with developmental objectives for the advancement of Africa. She has 15 years’ experience as a development worker, trainer and researcher with expertise on governance, youth development and innovation, and has worked in over 10 African countries. In 2015 she was appointed to the National Planning Commission to advise the President on the implementation of the National Development Plan of South Africa.

Dooms is a Trustee of the Kagiso Trust and holds a Masters of Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Hahrie Han is a professor of Political Science and the Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

She is an award-winning author of five books and numerous scholarly articles. Her latest book (Undivided, Knopf 2024) was named to the New York Times list of 100 Notable Books of the Year in 2024, and the New Yorker’s list of Recommended Books for 2024. 

She has also written for a wide range of scholarly and public outlets and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was named a 2022 Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation, and delivered the Tanner Lectures at Harvard University in 2024.

Sergio Aguayo Quezada is a prominent Mexican academic, journalist, and human rights activist. He earned a BA in International Relations from El Colegio de México, and completed his MA, PhD, and postdoctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Since 1977, Aguayo has served as professor researcher at El Colegio de México’s Centro de Estudios Internacionales, where he founded and coordinates the Seminar on Violence and Peace. He has also taught at CIDE, UNAM, UIA, and as a visiting professor at Harvard (beginning 2015), UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and the New School.

A founding member of La Jornada and the magazine Este País, he currently writes a weekly column for Reforma and appears on various national and international media. From 1990 to 1996, he was president of the Mexican Academy of Human Rights, and he has also led civil society organisations like Alianza Cívica, Propuesta Cívica, and Fundar.

Aguayo is the author of over 25 books and nearly 1,500 academic and journalistic articles, focusing on democracy, human rights, U.S.–Mexico relations, organised crime, and intelligence services.